NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Short Interest Down 13.2% in March

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,570,000 shares, a drop of 13.2% from the February 28th total of 42,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler raised NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its position in NIKE by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in NIKE by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management grew its position in NIKE by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 1,236 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE traded down $8.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.05. The stock had a trading volume of 55,561,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,141,168. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $82.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $55.26 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.64.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

About NIKE

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.